Gold Coast McDonald’s manager’s insane salary revealed
- Macca manager loses unfair dismissal
- Court reveals he won $206,592 package
- READ MORE: Macca’s disgusting mess
An unfair dismissal case has exposed the exorbitant salary and lavish benefits of a McDonald’s regional manager.
Gold Coast man Matthew Laurence ran nine fast food restaurants run by franchisee NGI Holdings Pty Ltd.
NGI Holdings is separate from McDonald’s parent company.
Mr Laurence was dismissed on April 21, prompting him to lodge an unfair dismissal claim with the Fair Work Commission – with his claim dismissed on September 20.
He argued that he should not have been fired from his job which paid him an annual salary of $144,043.
Mr. Laurence received several benefits in addition to his annual salary, with his final salary totaling $206,592.
A Fair Work Commission hearing has found the manager of nine McDonald’s franchises received total pay in excess of $200,000.
Mr. Laurence’s benefits included a VW Touareg work car, fuel paid in both that vehicle and another personal car, an annual allowance of $2,300 for clothing and another annual allowance of $2,400 which could be spent as desired.
Fair Work Commissioner Chris Simpson wrote that Mr Laurence accepted at the hearing that he told NGI Holdings director Edward Aldridge that he would be moving to Queensland and that it was “no negotiable”.
Mr. Laurence, who had been with the company for 15 years, moved to the Sunshine State in June 2022.
He continued to work interstate on certain days of the week.
He charged $27,426 on domestic flights to NGI Holdings as he traveled between his home on the Gold Coast and the Albury/Wodonga region on the NSW-Victoria border three days a week .
Mr Laurence worked the other two days from his office in Queensland.
Mr. Simpson dismissed the complaint, explaining that the Commission did not have jurisdiction to handle claims filed by workers earning more than $162,000.
Mr. Laurence unsuccessfully argued that his income was only $151,243, but NGI Holdings argued that Mr. Laurence’s annual income was $206,592.
The Commission found that because the manager had earned beyond his jurisdictional limit, it could not rule on his case.
Mr Aldridge told the Commission he agreed with Mr Laurence to pay for the flights instead of paying him a $20,000 “management bonus”.
Mr Laurence was employed under a “verbal agreement” and not under an award contract or enterprise agreement.
Mr Aldridge’s LinkedIn profile says he owns McDonald’s in Albury, Lavington, Wodonga Homemaker, Wodonga Birallee, Corowa, Glenrowan North and South, Benalla and Euroa.
